()

Cindy Fisher ©Stars and StripesOkinawa, December, 2006: Instructor Lance Cpl. Robert Hansen, top left, monitors Marines as they use a variety of techniques — from treading water to the dead man's float — to stay afloat for four minutes at Camp Hansen's training pool during water survival qualification. A Stars and Stripes story noted that Marines were required to "obtain and maintain a valid swim qualification during their careers" under Marine Corps Order 1500.52C. As one instructor put it, “we are amphibious, but people are losing sight of that. You have to be a complete Marine: one mind, any weapon, any environment.”

RELATED MATERIAL: Stars and Stripes' 2006 story about swim qualifications on Okinawa.